{"id":2206,"date":"2016-12-03T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/scotlands-economy\/?p=2206"},"modified":"2016-12-08T11:45:16","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T11:45:16","slug":"a-fairer-scotland-for-disabled-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/scotlands-economy\/2016\/12\/03\/a-fairer-scotland-for-disabled-people\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fairer-scotland\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Making sure disabled people have access to decent incomes and fairer working lives is one of the key ambitions at the heart of our new disability delivery plan \u2013 A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People.<\/p>\n

The plan recognises that even in the 21st century many disabled people are still unable to live their lives as they would want to because of the barriers in their way.<\/p>\n

We want to tackle this, and I\u2019m delighted that of the 93 actions in this plan, many will look at how we can create a fairer more equal work environment.<\/p>\n

In essence we want to create equal employment opportunities and have greater awareness and understanding among employers, while also removing the stigma that so often exists.<\/p>\n

We have a clear action on reducing by at least half the employment gap between disabled people and the rest of the working age population.\u00a0 And we will work with disabled people\u2019s organisations and partners to develop a timetable to achieve that aim.\u00a0 We will also take a number of other actions to address the barriers to work. While disabled people account for 20% of Scotland\u2019s population, they make up just 11% of the private sector workforce and 11.7% of the public sector workforce, we will work with both sectors to look at target setting and how we can redress the imbalance.<\/p>\n

We want to give young disabled people the opportunity to reach their full potential and recognise the challenges they can face entering the workforce. That is why we will pilot a new work experience scheme to help with this transition into permanent employment, and will offer the highest level of Modern Apprenticeship funding to disabled young people up to the age of 30. We will also build on SCVO and Inclusion Scotland\u2019s pilot programme by providing disabled people with 120 employment opportunities in the third and public sectors and in politics between 2017 and 2021.<\/p>\n

\n

.@JamieHepburn<\/a> announces details of the first contract awarded under newly devolved employment support powers #SGEmploySum16<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oYIusMieiw<\/a><\/p>\n

— Scottish Government Finance and Economy (@scotgoveconomy) November 23, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n